Abstract
RECENTLY there has been renewed interest in the ultimate fate of the gravitational collapse of large masses. From the early work of Chandrasekhar1, Oppenheimer and Volkoff2, and the more recent work of others3, it is clear that for a relativistic gas there is a critical spherical mass of Mc ∼ 1 M⊙, where M⊙ is the mass of the Sun. In any relativistic degenerate mass of M > Mc, no matter what radius it has, the gravitational field everywhere exceeds the outward force exerted by the pressure gradient. No static equilibrium configuration is possible, and hence the mass continuously collapses.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chandrasekhar, S., Stellar Structure (University of Chicago Press, 1939).
Oppenheimer, J. R., and Volkoff, G. M., Phys. Rev., 55, 374 (1939).
Harrison, B. K., Wakano, M., and Wheeler, J. A., La Structure et l'Evolution de l'Univers (Brussels: Stoops, 1958). Wheeler, J. A., Relativity and Gravitation, edit. by Chin, H. Y., and Hoffmann, W. F. (New York, Benjamin, 1963). See also review article: Chiu, H. Y., Ann. Phys., 26, 364 (1964).
Tolman, R. C., Relativity Thermodynamics and Cosmology, 252 (Oxford, Clarendon Press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
HARRISON, E. Gravitational Collapse. Nature 204, 1179–1180 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2041179a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2041179a0
This article is cited by
-
Bulletin GRG, No. 25: List of publications
General Relativity and Gravitation (1971)
-
Cosmic Explosions
Nature (1965)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
